Singapore seeks ‘online safety’ rules to remove or block harmful social media content

Examples of content that could be blocked reportedly include viral social media challenges that encourage young people to perform dangerous stunts

The rules would push platforms to take greater responsibility for user safety and shield users from harmful content, said communications minister Josephine Teo

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The rules would require social media platforms operating in Singapore to implement community standards and content moderation processes to shield users from harmful content. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:35pm, 21 Jun 2022

Singapore is proposing laws that will grant regulators the power to order social media services to remove or block online content deemed harmful, especially to young people.

The envisioned rules also require social media platforms to implement community standards and content moderation processes to shield users from harmful content, communications minister Josephine Teo said in a Facebook post on Monday. The guidelines, which will undergo public consultation starting next month, push social media companies to take greater responsibility for user safety, she said.

Josephine Teo, Singapore’s communications minister, said online safety is a ‘growing concern’. Photo: EPA-EFE

Singapore has long defended the need for laws to police content on the internet, saying the island nation is especially vulnerable to fake news and misinformation campaigns given that it’s a financial hub with a multi-ethnic population that enjoys widespread internet access.

But critics are concerned that recently enacted laws, such as ones barring foreign interference in local politics and governing online falsehoods, could be used to stem dissent or misapplied because they’re too loosely defined. Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook are among those that have expressed concern with Singapore’s fake news law.

The Southeast Asian nation joins countries such as Australia, Germany and Britain, which have enacted or proposed online content and safety laws.

US internet giants such as Meta and Alphabet Inc. are under growing pressure worldwide to curb the spread of misinformation on their globe-spanning platforms, most recently around the coronavirus pandemic.

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